It was a long-awaited and joyous occasion to celebrate Joyce and Timmy’s wedded bliss!

A portion from my whirlwind-written (3-night notice), heartfelt but not-so-well-delivered MOH toast:
Before his proposal to Joyce (and after months of planning), Timmy sent me an e-mail that I’d like to read a snippet from: “I will be at my old school setting up at 5pm. I chose this location because before Joyce and I started dating, I took her there to show her where I grew up. At the school there is a life size map of the US. We stood there talking and that was the moment at the young age of 18 that I knew that I found the person I would marry.” Fast forward a decade. This dream finally comes to fruition as Yuee and I had the privilege of witnessing Timmy get down on one knee… on that SAME US map… to ask the woman he has loved ALL these years… to spend the rest of their lives together. ;*)

It’s been such a blessing to see the couple’s journey of faith as they sought the Lord and waited patiently but also purposefully for His perfect timing and will through even some difficult circumstances. We wish you a lifetime of love as you grow together, enjoy each other and uphold one another in truth and grace.

Yuee got to sing & play Crowder’s “How He Loves”, a fave of mine (and the groom’s!). How fitting it was — this Love that gives us reason to love. Indeed, “Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss…”

PS: Being called “matron” seems so… matronly old. :P

A very worth sharing e-mail from a single friend that agreed to let me post…

A couple of years back, I was reading this passage:

“3 Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says:”Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” (Haggai 1:3-6) and I totally thought of young adults. I was kinda depressed that my generation was so focused on pleasing itself and being entertained and comforted, and not giving thought to how they might build up the church. So, I found myself praying a very strange prayer. I prayed, “God, would you let me fall in love with a girl who would reject me for missions? I’d be content just to know that there’s such a girl out there still.”

So it turns out, this prayer was answered in just that way. And yet, this “rejection” shakes not my friend’s faith.

His response —
Please continue to pray for me, that I’d just seek God out all the more. I’ve been realizing that I put a lot of my hope in temporal things, things that I hope to happen in this lifetime, and “if only…” can turn so quickly into “only if…” God’s been reminding me through this that I need to put my hope in Christ. Please pray also that I would continue to be there for her to encourage and support her as God calls her to missions, not out of a selfish hope that she’d change her mind, but out of a selfless hope for God to be glorified through her, that my friendship towards her would look like this following passage:

“9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:9-13)

The husband of DFH (haha) and his brother-in-law (i.e. my bro, Daniel) will be representing me at The North Texas Book Festival. :P Go support the boys and meet some other great local authors.

The absence is with sound reason as I’ll be a-maiding for my good friend Joyce at her long awaited wedding. Looking forward to it…

Happy Easter Eve!

I read a reflective devotional this past week about Jesus’ resurrection signaling His return to the Father’s house to prepare for the Ultimate Wedding — when He comes back again for His beloved people, His church that He calls the bride of Christ. This wedding cost the Father a great price: the blood of His Son. Just as we wait for our future mates with purpose and wisdom, all the moreso shall be anticipate our Eternal Bridegroom’s arrival with faithfulness, purity, and expectancy.

Revelations 19:7 has become sort of the banner verse of DFH. Let us make ourselves ready…

And, here are two DFH Easter excerpts to share. Excuse the somebunniness. What was I thinking? :P

My Dear Special Somebunny—
Easter weekend, ’tis. Be to our Christ, our Savior. He
is alive; He is living; He is life-breathing. And oh
how much He loves me … so much He gave me you.
…
There dwells in me a certain contentedness, joy,
simplicity in my life these past weeks. The security
of Him and him. Not needing things … or stuff.
But being able to just be—there has been comfort
in little. Less has been more. I feel full. Bounty in
paucity … Abundance in losing, forsaking self, giv-
ing, denying, caring.
…
I’m meeting my Jesus early tomorrow morning at
sunrise. I can’t wait. :)
…
❤,
Grace

Happy Easter, you special some~bunny!
Isn’t it unique how Easter’s in March this year? It’s
a deliciously lovely day to be celebrating the resur-
rection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. :) He
makes us more than conquerors. A much-needed
reassurance, given that the last two weeks have been
really difficult for me in body and mind.
…
The Lord has been teaching me that He has given
every spiritual blessing and that the task remaining is
my receiving. What comfort in that thought—God
holds in His hand everything that I could desire, ask
for, imagine. But I don’t believe enough. Did you
know we can believe and still have unbelief? Lord,
take away my unbelief.
…
Faith is a mysterious thing … God, help me to
believe completely that all that I see now is tem-
porary—that you will take me from this place and
bring me to another place. Give me love to endure
all things, hope all things, never fail. I also believe in
you. I believe God’ll bring me you. :) He will, he will.
…
Love you now, love you to the end…
…
Because He lives,
Grace
Easter ’02